Happy Like Us
by TwistedSky
Summary: And so begins the Chlo-Lo matchmaking extravaganza. Lois and Chloe, both happily married, decide to start spreading the love around the league.
1. Chapter 1

I disclaim. I've had a killer case of writer's block, so this is my way of getting rid of it. It's kind of silly :)

* * *

Few understand the power of a stubborn woman who gets it into her head to play matchmaker for her friends-especially if said woman is happily in love, because then she believes that every friend, family member, and sweet neighborhood coffee shop owner deserves to be in love too.

In this case, there were two incredibly stubborn women, blissfully happy in their respective marriages, and highly motivated to make sure that two of their closest friends realized what they did-that they were madly in love, and meant to be together.

That these two women were related made their bond of Holy Matchmakingness all the more terrifying. Or, it would have been if their unaware friends had any idea what they had planned.

Chloe Sullivan-Queen and Lois Lane-Kent were nothing if not tenacious. And contrary to popular belief Lois could keep a secret, when it suited her. It just didn't often suit her, and she was a journalist, after all. They weren't exactly known for keeping their mouths shut.

Although it may have seemed a bit out of character for Chloe to be interested in pairing off her friends, there was only so much she could take-he would glance in her direction, with a sweet sadness written all over his face, then he'd glance quickly away. Then she would look at him, need showing plainly on her face, until she would glance away. And it would begin again. Somehow, those two never managed to meet glances. Or, if they did, they seemed to dismiss what they saw on each others face. They were getting absolutely nowhere.

Seeing her friends unhappy and alone was enough to convince her that something had to be done. It was enough to push any woman over the edge. Plus, she was pregnant, and feeling overly sentimental, so she couldn't help herself-at least, that was what she would say if they were caught. There were many things her dear friends-who were truly more like family-would do for her because of her pregnant state. She was taking full advantage of every single one of them.

* * *

"I have a plan." Lois plopped done onto the couch in Chloe's Watchtower. "You know, you really have made this place into a home, I'm so happy for you. This is a really great couch."

"Thanks. A plan? Involving what? Because you know how protective of me everyone has been lately. So if this involves breaking into some dirty politician's office after hours . . . I'm going to have to pass."

"Come on, Chloe. When was the last time I did that?"

"Seven months ago-you got both of us thrown in jail for the weekend. Oliver was upset with me for weeks. In fact, he assured me that if there were a repeat experience, he'd cut off my coffee supply. Now that I'm pregnant, obviously that doesn't matter. But he will find something to withhold. I'd rather not."

She waved that off, "Doesn't matter anyway, because that's not the plan."

"I'm kind of tired of waiting for Dinah and AC to get their acts together. So I think we should 'encourage' them to get a move on." Lois seemed very proud of herself.

Chloe smiled, turning from her computer console, walking over to the couch to sit next to her cousin. "Okay, I'll bite. What's the plan?"

Lois' smile faltered. "Um, actually, that was the plan. I came up with the big picture and I thought, you know . . . "

"That I'd fill in the details?" Chloe finished.

"Well, yeah. I'm not really a detail-oriented person. And you're great at that stuff. It's why we make such a good team." That was true, so Chloe would let her get away with it.

"Fine. The league has a team dinner coming up soon, I'm sure we can come up with something."

* * *

AC was a wreck. That, in and of itself, was a strange thing. After all, he was generally a very mellow, calm, happy-go-lucky sort of guy.

That was before Dinah.

At first, it had been fine. There had been a hint of flirtation between Dinah and Oliver, so he'd simply accepted that she was off-limits. However, nothing-other than a few harmless, platonic emails according to Chloe-had happened.

After that, things had changed. They'd begun to work more as a team-what with Chloe wanting to make the team into a family, and have it run more effectively-and he'd started to fall for her. Slow, and hard.

He was in love with her.

He wasn't really her type. She was blatantly sexual, and intense, she was the kind of woman that men like Oliver Queen dated. Beautiful, classy, and so smart.

As much as he was terrified of telling her how he felt about her, he also didn't shy away from being a friend to her. They were thrown together so often(all of them, really) there wasn't much choice. And, they were family. Even if the team disbanded tomorrow, he'd still care about everyone on it, and it was the same for everyone else.

They were very different people. She was a conservative show host, he was . . . a bleeding heart liberal, obsessed with saving the planet, protecting the ocean, and its inhabitants. It was who he was. It wasn't just the environment-because he knew that conservative thinkers could care about the environment, because it wasn't like liberal politics had a corner in that market-it was everything.

She wasn't heartless, or uncaring. She wasn't unwilling to see reason, or reconsider moral questions. She simply was not for him.

They would not fit together. Sure, whenever they spoke, they were fine. They could be friendly, and polite. And they could talk for hours, about their causes, about the world, about everything and anything.

And they did. They spent a surprising amount of time together. They were closer to each other than they were to any other people in the league.

But she didn't know he was in love with her.

And she probably never would, because whenever he thought he had managed to wrangle up enough courage to tell her how he felt . . . he suddenly became tongue-tied, and he just couldn't.

He didn't want to lose her friendship. And for some reason, there was a part of him that believed he didn't deserve her, that he wasn't right for her. Plus, he was afraid of rejection.

He loved her, but couldn't have her. Which made events where they had to be with the whole team tough to handle. When they hung out, by themselves, it was almost easy. Surrounded by people he was afraid that someday someone was going to realize how he felt about Dinah.

If they hadn't already.

* * *

"Phase One is complete," Lois muttered to herself. She smiled at her handiwork.

Dinner was soon, so everyone was just mingling downstairs. She, however, was on a mission. She'd just set the trap for Dinah and AC.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

Chloe had said to meet her here, she'd said she wanted to speak with her privately. She was nowhere to be found. She looked around at the guest room that Chloe had made up for those times that she, or someone else, would need a place to stay for the night. Chloe sometimes joked that it was for Ollie when he was in the doghouse-which he never was, of course.

_Model husband,_ Dinah smiled fondly. There was once a time when she'd thought they had a chance, but then she'd seen him fall for that short blond, with whom he just . . . fit together perfectly.

She felt a clutch at her core, and felt that loneliness . . . that seemed to consume her, especially as of late.

She was about to leave when she saw and heard the door handle turn.

It was AC.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?" Dinah was surprised to see that he wasn't playing video games with Bart and Victor-which was what the three of them tended to do when they got together. They usually played up until dinner.

He walked in, over to the window she'd been looking out. "Um, Lois said to see if I could find Chloe. Which, I haven't. Found you instead," he smiled at that.

"Yeah, Chloe wanted to talk to me here, but she didn't show up. How's . . . life? Haven't seen you in a few weeks."

Mostly because he'd been avoiding her.

"I've been kinda busy." He avoided her eyes, "Saved some manatees last week. Oil spill."

"Yeah, I heard about that."

They were so wrapped up at this point in one another that they didn't even realize that the door to the room closed. Clicked.

* * *

"Phases two and three are complete," Chloe smiled.

She was really good at this kind of thing, Lois noticed for the umpteenth time. It always surprised her how perfectly Chloe fit into this world of superheroes.

They both stared at the monitor, watching the video feed they'd set up earlier, so that they could keep tabs on the two lovebirds.

"Hey, turn up the volume. " Lois requested, Chloe complied. "I could really use some popcorn, it's like a romantic comedy in the comfort of your own home. "

"Already ahead of you," Chloe grabbed a bowl of popcorn and some M&M's from a counter that Lois hadn't noticed.

"See, this is how I know we're family. You like, read my mind." Lois grabbed a hand full of popcorn and began to shove it in her mouth.

"They're just kind of standing there. Do you think they even know they're locked in?"

Lois smirked, "Not yet. But they will."

That didn't sound ominous at all.

* * *

They were looking at each other. Like complete idiots.

But Lois had planned for this.

"Hey, bird brain. Fish outta water!"

Where had that come from? They both looked around, rather confused as to where the voice was coming from.

"Lois?" Dinah asked tentatively.

"Yup. Now, the two of you have been dancing circles around each other for way too long. So, get it on."

"Lois! You can't just tell them to get it on like that. You have to lead up to it. Plus, we're not exactly peeping toms."

"Chloe?" AC was confused.

"Sorry, AC. Had to do it. Plus you know how people get when they're blissfully in love-they want everyone around them be the same, what can I say?" He could almost hear the shrug that came with that seemingly semi-rhetorical question.

Dinah walked over to the door, pulled on the handle."Well, you could start with an explanation." She concentrated, tried to direct her canary shriek towards the door, trying to see if she could get it open.

"Sorry Dinah, not going to work." They'd reinforced the door and its lock. It was basically impossible to open until Chloe triggered the mechanism she'd put in place.

Dinah sighed. "What do you want?"

"For you to admit how you feel. Pretty simple. You're causing a bit of tension amongst the team."

"Oh." AC seemed a little put-out by that. Dinah wondered if Lois and Chloe had gotten it all wrong, if maybe-

Her train of thought was interrupted by AC. "I thought I hid it pretty well."

Lois snorted. "Apparently not. Considering that you're a superhero with a secret identity, you'd think you'd be better at keeping something like this a secret."

"Lois," Chloe gently chided, "Love makes people crazy, you know that as well as I do. It's not AC's fault he's been such a lovesick puppy"

Dinah didn't know what to say.

"Look, Dinah . . . I've been in love with you for a while now. You're practically my best friend. I didn't know how to tell you, and I don't know if I ever would have . . . but since the choice was taken away from me . . . " he paused significantly.

Lois tried to control the giggle. It burst out. Chloe rolled her eyes and turned off the microphone on their end. She considered briefly turning off the one in the room with AC and Dinah. She immediately rejected the idea, as she rather wanted to know how this was going to turn out.

It was kinda like a soap opera.

Dinah . . . still wasn't saying anything. A few silent minutes passed.

"Do you think there's a chance that we were wrong? I mean, if she felt the same way . . . " Lois sounded a little uncertain.

AC spoke. "Oh. I get it. You know we can just forget this ever happened-"

Dinah stepped forward quickly and-

* * *

"Chloe, do you know where Dinah, AC, and Lois are? Oh, hey Lois." Oliver watched as Chloe quickly hit a few keystrokes and Lois tried to hide the bowl of popcorn in her lap.

"Um, uh. They're fine." Oliver looked at his wife suspiciously.

"What did you do, Chloe?" Lois made a move to escape, but Oliver gave her a look that froze her in place. She smiled brightly.

"It wasn't my idea."

"Actually, the specifics were kind of your idea. I just supplied the inspiration."

Oliver lifted an eyebrow. "Okay, so maybe I also helped with the gruntwork a bit too."

"What did you two do?"

"We, um, well. I'll show you." Chloe brought back up the video feed from the room.

"You decided to film a porno in the Watchtower with league members?"

"What?" Chloe and Lois had been focused on Oliver's reaction, so they quickly looked at the screen.

"Oh!" Chloe closed out the feed.

"Yes! I knew this would work out." Lois looked very smug.

"You were the one who was just doubting Dinah's feelings a minute ago."

"Well, you two can argue later. The reason I came in here was to tell you that dinner is ready. I think we should probably leave those two lovebirds alone."

"Good plan." Lois left quickly, sex always made her kind of hungry. Even if she weren't the one having it.

Oliver turned to Chloe. "What did I say about letting Lois get you into these ridiculous plans of hers?" He tried to sound stern, but given the sweet smile that blossomed over his face as he took his wife in his arms, it didn't really work out so well.

"I want them to be happy, Ollie. I mean, obviously they'll never be as happy as we are, " she smirked, "But they can try."

"I suppose I should just be happy that you're not storming the fields, or breaking and entering, shouldn't I?"

"Yup." She looked up at him and smiled. "I love you, Ollie."

"I love you too, Sidekick."

* * *

Hours later, after everyone had left except Oliver and Chloe-who were just getting ready to go home- and Dinah and AC had disappeared at some point, barely saying goodbye before they disappeared off into the night, Chloe received a text from Lois.

'We did good, little cousin. Who's next?'

Chloe smiled. She had an idea.

* * *

This started out as something completely different. But then it ran away from me. In fact, I think I'm going to have to let the Chlo-Lo matchmaking team "help" the entire team. Review, please?


	2. Chapter 2

*still, with the not owning*. This chapter is a little all over the place(and it took _forever _to write, stupid writer's block, and life), but it's supposed to set up the next few chapters. Enjoy.

* * *

Victor was her pet project.

They'd always had that connection-that technological intuition bonded them together in a way that few others could understand.

And when his girlfriend had unceremoniously dumped him, she had been there.

Chloe wanted him to be happy. She wanted all of her friends to be happy and in love, but especially Victor.

The problem was, she couldn't quite seem to find the right girl for him. Not that it mattered, because she had many others to marry off. Upon thinking that she had frozen for a moment, and wondered briefly when she'd become a matchmaking mama. It was as if she'd become one of those old matriarchs in a Regency romance novel. Not that she, um, would know.

But it didn't matter, these people were her family, and she was going to do everything in her power to help them find happiness.

* * *

"They're both psychotic." Kara suggested as an explanation for the insanity that seemed to have possessed Chloe and Lois.

"What? No way! They're just trying to help out, you know. Chloe's nesting, and Lois . . . is Lois. They just want us to be happy," Mia defended her matchmaking friends.

"You're only saying that because you're not on their radar yet." Bart, on the other hand, was. Chloe had been badgering him for days about giving the new coffee girl a chance. He said no, every time.

"Hey, as a proud recipient of their matchmaking help, I'm going to suggest you just sit back and enjoy the ride," Dinah smiled at her newly significant other, who smiled back and took her hand.

"So you're saying that you're glad they meddled?" Victor asked in disbelief.

"Sometimes you need a little push. And there's a part of me that wonders if I'd ever have gotten the courage to tell this one," AC teasingly referred to Dinah, "that I love her."

There was a moment of silence/sappiness.

"Um, just because things worked out for you, doesn't mean things will for the rest of us. Some of us aren't meant for happily ever after." A shadow of pain crossed Victor's face as he interrupted the moment with what he thought was merely a reflection of reality.

"So cynical, and at such a young age."

"Chloe. Hi." Victor, among others, looked guiltily at their Watchtower.

Everyone else echoed his hello, and suddenly found things they had to do elsewhere. Now.

* * *

When they were alone, Chloe decided it was time for an intervention.

"Victor-" she stopped him from leaving.

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course, 'Tower." His face said otherwise, but his body went back down onto the couch he'd been sitting on.

"Is it really that unbelievable? That there's someone out there for you, who will love you as much as you deserve?" She asked, with a concerned expression on her face.

"Katherine-"

"Katherine wasn't good enough for you. She left you because she realized that."

"She left me because she didn't love me. Not even because of what I'd become," he looked down at himself. "You may not be able to see it, but you know that it's there. It changes things, Chloe."

"Katherine was a bitch."

Victor tried not to smile, but he couldn't help but meet Chloe's smile with one of his own. "I wouldn't go that far."

"Victor, not only did she leave you because she thought you were a 'freak' but then she decided to string you along, all the while knowing that she'd never be okay with who you are."

"It's not an easy thing to accept." He thought he should at least try to defend her.

"Victor . . . it's not easy living this life we've chosen-that's chosen us. Things are even harder for those of you with 'gifts' but one day, you'll find someone who will accept you, and everything that you are. And she'll love you."

"It's nice for you to say that, but you know it's not necessarily true."

"Victor," she said sternly, taking his hands and meeting his eyes, "You have me. There's no way it's not true."

She seemed so sure of herself that he couldn't help but want to believe her despite himself, "Thanks, Chlo, but can you lay off the matchmaking, for me? Just for a while. I need some time to myself."

"Of course, dearheart. Just not too much time, 'kay?

"Okay."

"But let's just keep this little deal between you and me."

"Of course," he'd let them all think she had focused her attentions on him and then . . . ah.

"Did I seriously just call you 'dearheart?' The hormones are really getting to me, aren't they?"

He merely smiled and refrained from answering.

He wouldn't be safe forever. But at least he'd bought himself a little time.

* * *

"I think Victor's it right now. She just had a little 'talk' with him." Kara seemed a little put out by that idea.

Bart-assuming it was because she'd kind of wanted to be next- answered, "At least it's not me. Chloeliscious can try and play matchmaker all she wants, but not with me."

"Aren't you ever lonely?" Mia questioned.

"No, of course not."

"Well, some people aren't like you, Bart. Some of us want more out of life than an unlimited supply of food," Kara bit out.

"Wow, that's not what I meant, dude." He struggled to find the right words, which was unusual to the extreme, because he usually just said anything that popped into his head. But this was an important moment.

"You guys are my family. I'm not lonely, because I have all of you. Before . . . all of this," he waved his hand around at Watchtower, "I didn't have much of anything. And I may not be 16 anymore, but I'm still young enough that I'm just trying to enjoy that-having a family. I don't need to fall in love, or find my 'soulmate,' because I'm happy with the way things are. I have all of you, and that makes me happy."

Chloe noticed more than a little tearyness as she watched from the doorway as Bart opened his heart for everyone to see.

"That was sweet," Oliver whispered into her ear. She turned her head to him and leaned into him.

"Yeah, yeah it was."

She saw something unexpected on the face of more than one of present league members, and wondered._ Hmm, something to think about._

"And we love you too," Chloe said as she entered the room, Oliver following close behind her.

"Chloe, I meant what I said. I really love you guys, and I don't need to be set up. I don't need to find my soulmate."

No, no he didn't, she thought. He already had. He was just being male and foolish, but that was best left for another day. He was right, after all, he was young. He needed some time.

Chloe gave Bart a quick hug, then took charge. "Anyway, you guys need to get back on track. I know we've been a little lax since we found out I'm pregnant," she put her hand on her increasingly large belly. "But there's still a world to save. Some of the others are going to be hanging around more, now that Emil set limits on how many hours I'm allowed to work a day." She was still really upset about that, but she'd let it go. She did, after all, have a baby on the way, and many love-starved friends.

* * *

Zatanna didn't normally spend a lot of time with the Justice-driven superhero types if she could manage it.

Sure, they were sexy, and useful at times-but they were often so stuck in their black and white little worlds-full of justice, right and wrong, and they never had any fun, it seemed. That was why she liked Chloe and Oliver, and their brand of hero. They were fun, and not so stuck in the heroism that they'd forgotten how to be human. Some wouldn't want to work with someone like Zatanna just because of who she was, and what she did. They weren't like that, which was why she tolerated them, helped them occasionally with missions, and was always invited to team dinners: she was part of their family, but more like the crazy aunt than the immediate sibling.

It suited her just fine.

She liked being alone, most of the time.

Which is why she didn't know about Lois and Chloe's mission to matchmake everyone in the league. She'd missed the "Dinah and AC" episode of that show. So when Chloe had called her, asking her to go on a mission to Cairo, she hadn't given it a second thought. She'd said yes. She needed a bit of a vacation anyway.

* * *

"This feels like less fun than what we did with Dinah and AC." Lois whined to her cousin.

"It kinda does. But that's partially because it's taking place halfway around the world, and all we get to do is listen to them over the comms. No video feed inside pyramids, apparently."

"Plus, it's not like they're in love. We just think they'd be cute together."

Chloe sighed, leaned back carefully into the couch upon which her cousin was also situated, and said "True. It's kind of like we're just doing it to keep our matchmaking skills in shape. Maybe we should have waited until after I, um, get back to 100%, as opposed to 200%."

"Oh, Chlo. You're not that big. And you're all glowy. You're beautiful." Lois wrapped her cousin in her arms, in an affectionate hug.

"Thanks, Lo. I don't believe you, because I am eight-and-a-half months pregnant. But still, this kind of feels like filler."

"Doesn't mean it can't be true love too."

* * *

Witches. He didn't like them. Now, he was paired with one, because apparently there was some

"I'm not a witch, exactly."

"You play with magic, does it really matter whether you're a witch, an enchantress, or a fairy godmother?" He asked dismissively.

She briefly considered some sort of magical castration . . . then realized it would be more trouble than it was worth. "I prefer Zatanna. Can we just get back to the business at hand?"

"Of course. Lead the way," he waved his arms in a mockingly gallant way that made her want to punch him. And she wasn't the physically violent type.

* * *

Cairo during mid-summer with some old bird with a chip on his shoulders? No, this was not a vacation. This was Hell.

Zatanna was annoyed with Chloe, and was beginning to consider ways to get even with her. Starting with giving her child fins, or something. Oliver would probably kill her, but she could easily undo it before the kid started high school. Or maybe after. Then again, it wasn't the kid's fault that its mother was psychotic. Sending her off to Egypt with some gruff, pre-menstrual man . . . what was she _thinking_?

Zatanna supposed she hadn't done it on purpose. After all, it was a magical artifact, the kind of thing that Zatanna did best. And she supposed there was a valid reason why Carter Hall was her partner-in-crime, semi-literally, for this mission . . . but she didn't really care. When she'd met him at the airport, she'd been amused. Kind of attracted, until he opened his mouth.

Plus, the weather was horrendous. Ugh.

* * *

"I don't think they like each other much, Chlo." Lois seemed uncertain.

They'd been listening to them bicker the entire time they'd been making their way through the pyramid's maze of tunnels.

"Really, Lo? You think that's bad? You should hear Ollie and me on a good day."

"But that's all in good fun, you know you love each other at the end of the day," Lois disagreed.

"It wasn't always that way. You know that better than I." There was a bit of an awkward silence at that.

They heard a crash over the comm-link.

_"I think you broke it."_

_"Really? Do you? Shocking."_

_"Watchtower, we have a problem."_

"Yeah, yeah you do." Chloe stared at the energy signature that was building over their location. "What did you do?"

Zatanna bristled, _"He broke it. He broke the artifact, which in turn trapped us in some random room, and now we can't get out."_

_"You could always try a little hocus-pocus,"_ Carter suggested.

_"I already did. I think the traps in this place are linked within a magical network. Which means, of course, that I need to fix what you broke._" Imbecile.

Chloe sighed, "I don't think arguing is going to help."

Lois raised an eyebrow. "It could, you know, release some of that-" Chloe placed her hand over Lois' mouth, gave her a warning glance. "-Anger. And frustration."

"I don't think I can do anything from our end, but I'll send Clark and see if he can muscle his way in."

_"Don't, I think there's a magical field that could be pretty damaging if he were to aggravate it." Zatanna sighed.  
_

Worst. Day. Ever.

* * *

They'd been trapped for four hours. Four long, annoying hours.

And she'd gotten nowhere. She couldn't quite figure out how to repower the artifact.

"Should have just left well-enough alone." Carter finally spoke.

"Yes, yes you should have."

"I didn't exactly do it on purpose. I meant us. We should have just left it here."

"We couldn't. It's been causing disturbances for weeks now in the magnetic field. What we needed to do was depower it, so that it would be trapped in its own little museum. Since, of course, you screwed up, I think you should just be quiet and let me work."

"Because me being quiet and letting you work has worked so well for the past four hours," he lifted a brow.

"As opposed to you spending half of that time trying to smash your way out of here with your overgrown big boy toys? I think I'll stick with my plan."

Carter sighed, "I'm sorry."

Zatanna blinked. "You are?"

"Yes, I've been inappropriately sarcastic and, quite frankly, rude. It's just not a good day."

Now she was curious, "Why is that, exactly?"

"I've lived many, many lives. Today is the anniversary of the first death of my wife and I."

Zatanna was nearly speechless, "I'm . . . so sorry."

"So am I."

"It must be hard, without her."

"It is."

"Loss and grief can destroy you. It's . . . admirable that you haven't let it consume you, that even though it's a never-ending cycle, you're still helping people, in your own way."

Carter considered her words. "Maybe. I wonder if I haven't let it change me, irreparably."

"That's the thing about love, Tweety bird, it always changes you."

"Is that something you know from experience?"

"My father died. And I spent my time trying to bring him back to life. I was going to sacrifice someone else's life, just so that I could have him back. Because I was too cowardly to accept that I had to live my life for me, finally."

"But you did, eventually."

"Yes, I did. It's not the same, of course. But it's my pain."

"You carry it well."

"Thank you," she smiled.

"Have you ever had a connection like that? An all-consuming love?"

"No, I can't say that I have," her smile saddened.

"I hope you do, someday. Because it's worth all the pain in a lifetime, just to be with her for a little while."

A thought suddenly occurred to Zatanna. "Have you ever, you know, been in love with a woman other than your wife?"

"Yes, I have. Once. But it's not the same. I loved her, she died, and eventually I was reunited with Shiera. She's fallen for others, too. When I've been the one to die first."

"Is that love . . . less?"

Carter considered her question carefully.

"It's different. It's harder in some ways, because I know I'll always be reunited with Shiera, but it's also . . . empowering to love someone else. When I was with the other woman, I loved her in a way that was more . . . human. Losing her, in many ways, was just as difficult and painful as every time I lose Shiera. In some ways more, because I'll never find her again, in any other life."

"I think I understand, at least as much as I can. Anyway, I think I've found a way out of here." She flicked a wrist and said an incantation. The artifact glowed, the doorway cleared.

"That was easy."

"It wasn't easy figuring it out, that's for sure. We need to depower this thing the right way now."

Carter made a move towards her, "No, I don't trust you not to break it again, silly." She winked at him.

* * *

Afterward, on Oliver's jet, on the way back to the US, Zatanna turned to him. "If you ever need someone to talk to . . . a friend. Just call." She handed him a business card.

"Do I tap my ruby slippers together three times, and you magically appear?"

Zatanna sighed. "It's just a business card. I don't know where you all get those ridiculous ideas from."

He turned over the card. "Oh."

"Yes, 'oh.'" She laughed.

* * *

"That was . . . okay." Lois had wanted more, but she supposed she could settle for friendship and obvious sexual chemistry.

Chloe groaned. "No, not really. I think my water just broke."

* * *

Hehe. Random :)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three! Thanks to all who have reviewed, added to favorites, or put this story on alert. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside :) Sorry this took so long, I recently moved back into my college, so I've been kinda busy packing/unpacking. Anyway. For this chapter I had to make the difficult decision of pairing Bart with someone. I kinda made someone else decide for me. And it worked out. I think. Eh.

* * *

"This is kind of painful."

"Really? Me squeezing your hand is painful? Try giving birth, nimrod."

Chloe had been calling Oliver every dirty word and mean name she could think of. Apparently she'd gotten to the bottom of the vocabulary barrel.

"I know, Chlo. There's a reason why women are the sex that gives birth. I've a low tolerance for pain." That would have been rather amusing, considering that as the Green Arrow he had been shot, tortured, etc. quite a bit over the years, except it really wasn't given the circumstance.

"This isn't just pain Ollie-"She stopped to groan at another wave of pain. "This is death."

"I'm pretty sure it's the opposite of death."

"It's like despair, and pain and agonizing torture. It _hurts_."

"I know, baby."

"Make it stop."

"I can't do that. But if you wait until the doctor says you can push," he looked up from his wife's face to the doctor, who nodded."Which you can apparently start doing right now."

"Good. Because I was going to do it anyway, no matter what he said."

"Of course you were." He believed her.

* * *

She'd been home from the hospital for two weeks. And the baby was cock-blocking. She couldn't speak to anyone on the team alone for more than five minutes. And whenever she thought she'd managed to finally set someone up, something else would get in the way. Exhibit A: Chloe had met a sweet IT girl from Queen Industries. She'd tried to set her up with Victor, but that baby-who was really the most adorable, cutest baby that had ever come into existence(and she was being completely impartial)-had distracted her at the crucial moment, letting Victor escape from her grip.

Her little boy was amazing, but he was kind of getting in the way of her fun. Then again, she'd been told by Martha, that was what babies were good at.

Which meant she needed a new plan.

She picked up her phone and dialed, "Lo? I think this round is yours. I have an idea."

* * *

Clark was not happy with this plan. "No."

Lois was stunned silent. Clark had actually just said no to her.

Clark just looked at her. "I mean it."

That snapped her out of it."Excuse me, Smallville? Did I hear what I think I just heard? Are you implying that because you told me not to, that I should just stop?"

Clark nearly sighed. Now he was in for it. "That's not what I mean, Lois."

"Sounds like it. Not that it matters, because I'm not going to listen."

"Not Bart, Lois."

"Why not? They'd be kind of cute. They'd have the quickest babies in seven galaxies."

"Lois," he warned.

"What? Chloe suggested Mia. But I thought, you know what, he and Kara spend a lot of time together-"

"Kara spends a lot of time with the league. That just so happens to include Bart. And Victor, AC, Chloe and everyone else, come to think of it."

"Like you'd know. Seriously, Clark. Where have you been lately? It's like you've been on another planet. And even when you're here, you're not."

"I didn't mean to make you feel that way. I've been busy."

"Saving people, of course? Sometimes Clark I wonder. I couldn't share Ollie with the world, remember? I don't want to come in last, after everyone else . . . I don't need to be everything, but I need to at least be in the top two."

"You are."

"Somehow I don't believe that. Anyway, we're having dinner. And we're inviting Kara, Bart, Mia and Victor. Chloe promised that she'd pull Mia and Vic, so we should be fine."

"Lois . . . " Clark sighed. He supposed he could let it go, it wouldn't work anyway. "I thought you said Chloe was in favor of setting him up with Mia."

"She is. But I suggested we try Kara first, especially since it's something easy that we-I mean I-can do."

"Fine. They can come. But don't expect me to play along with your plan."

It wasn't support, but it was neutrality. Which was really all she'd been hoping for. "Thanks, Clark." She kissed him on the cheek and headed out of the room. At the last second she turned back and said, "I love you, you know."

"I love you too, Lois."

* * *

It was a set-up.

And it wasn't going to work.

Mia believed whole-heartedly that it was not going to work. And even if she were wrong, well, she was rather hoping it wouldn't work out too. That should be enough karmic nonsense to avoid that disaster.

She didn't want Kara to be with Bart. Sure, she liked Kara. In fact, she and Kara were fairly close, even though Kara was a few years older they were still pretty close in age. At least, it seemed so. It was rather hard to tell with Kara.

But she couldn't have Bart.

Mia, you see, had a bit of a crush on him.

Just a bit.

And Mia could never tell with Kara, but she did know that Bart had a thing for blonds.

That knowledge did not make her happy. It made her rather . . . sad, actually.

The dinner she'd been invited to at the Kent residence was tonight. She and Victor were supposed to have a mission at the last minute, that required her archery skills and Victor's hacking skills. And of course, the new parents couldn't be taken away from their baby yet. Right? Exactly.

Victor had simply said that it was better Bart than him, but Mia wanted to be with someone. And, quite possibly, that person could have been Bart.

She briefly considered ruining the most recent Chlo-Lo matchmaking scheme. It would probably be more effective if she had Victor's help.

Hmm.

* * *

"Not going to happen."

"Please."

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No. Um . . . No."

"I'll take the bullet for the next round of Watchtower cleansing,which I happen to know is yours."

"Deal."

* * *

Convincing Chloe had taken some finagling. Some pizazz. Luckily, that was what Mia was good at. She had a feeling that Chloe actually hadn't been so much convinced by what she had said about 'helping out the matchmaking schemes' as she'd seen right through Mia's real intentions to ruin the Bart/Kara romantic coupledom plan.

As it suited her either way, she preferred not to worry about it.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Lois asked not so subtly.

Victor simply shrugged. Mia smiled sweetly and replied, "We were invited."

"Yes, but you weren't supposed to-"

"Weren't supposed to what?" Bart questioned.

"Nothing, Bart. Nothing." Lois plastered a smile on her face. "Come in."

They walked toward the dining area. Dinner is almost done. Mia, Victor, why don't you come with me to bring out the food."

"What about me?" Kara, who had been sitting in the dining room, asked.

"I'll just use these two. It's not like Bart can help anyway. He'd eat the food before it got the ten steps from the kitchen. Wouldn't you, kiddo?" Lois was entirely too happy and bright.

Kara, though a little afraid of the intense perkiness of Lois, was mostly used to it. Bart just looked at her.

"Okay then."

* * *

Lois whispered harshly, "What are you two even doing here? You're supposed to be off on some mission, aren't you?"

"Change of plans." Mia said simply.

"No. No change of plans. Leave, now."

"No."

It was a battle of wills between Lois and Mia. Lois may have had more experience with such standoffs, but Mia was young and had lived a tough life-she was intense, when she wanted to be.

They simply stared at one another, waiting for someone to break.

"Well, this is uncomfortable." Victor said, grabbing the pan of lasagna and walking out.

"Lois, you have guests." Clark called. Lois cursed under her breath and broke eye contact. "Fine. But don't get in their way."

"I'm not promising anything."

"Really?" Lois smiled sweetly. "Because if you're not, then I'm not."

Mia lifted a brow. "Bring it on."

* * *

Dinner was a little tense. Lois had tried at every turn to engage Bart and Kara in a conversation. Clark had merely stared off into space, obviously uncomfortable. Victor had attempted to strike up a conversation with Clark, and given up when he realized that he was better off just keeping his mouth shut-except for eating.

Lois could be incredibly scary. She knew it, and she took full advantage of it. All Lois needed to do was give Victor a look for him to stay quiet. Mia, however, was a little more complicated. Lois thought it was probably a good thing that Mia was on their side, else they'd be in a bit of trouble. She didn't break.

Lois soon realized why.

"So, Vic, how's the upgrade coming along?" Kara asked Victor.

Victor smiled, "It's fine. Actually, it's pretty awesome. We're working on updating the satellites right now. Which I'm sure you could take a look at if you wanted."

"Absolutely. Are we still on for Saturday?"

Lois looked on with interest. "What's Saturday?"

"We're going to a fair."

"Just the two of you?"

Victor shifted uncomfortably in his chair, took a bite of garlic bread. Nodded his head in affirmation.

"Yes. But, of course, the rest of you are welcome to join."

Mia waited for Lois to suggest Bart go along to spend time with Kara, but it didn't happen.

Mia spoke first, "Sounds fun, but I'm busy with school." Mia was currently taking classes at Met U. In fact, she had about a semester left until she graduated.

"Oh yeah, how's that going, anyway?" Bart asked.

"It's fun, actually. I'm excited for it to be over though, so that I can really join the league full-time."

"Chloe isn't going to let you do that," Lois nearly snorted with laughter. "She's going to make sure you lead a 'balanced life' because she doesn't want you to end up only focusing on saving the world. You need your own life too."

"I suppose." Mia responded reluctantly.

"Oh, Speedy. You never change. Always ready to shoot some arrows at the bad guys." Bart teased.

"Coming from you, that's rather shocking. Then again, if it were up to you, you would be playing video games in your spare time, instead of training with J'onn and working on that weird science/crime-fighting hybrid of yours."

"Given the choice, what would you choose?"

"_Touché_. But who would have thought you had such an attention to detail?"

"You're just jealous. You have no idea what you want to do with yourself, and I have a career. It even sounds cool. Police Scientist. Very professional, don't you think so guys?" Bart appealed to the others at the table.

They looked at each other and laughed. There was no way they were getting involved. Lois smirked. Watching Bart tease Mia wasn't just making her feel better, but it was somewhat eye-opening.

"You're just doing it because you thought Bones was a really cool show at the time. And you thought it would be awesome if you could somehow put what Bones and Booth did together and be 'the best crime-solver ever.' I believe those were your words. And really, 'police scientist' isn't very official sounding."

"So?"

"I was just saying."

Mia always managed to bring out the child in Bart. He stuck her tongue out at her after he checked to make sure no one was watching. Lois saw it, and had to smother a laugh. "Put that thing away."

"You make it sound so . . . _dirty_, Lois."

"I was just saying."

Mia took her turn to stick her tongue out, this time at Lois.

Lois turned to her husband, expecting him to say something. He, however, was in the midst of a *facepalm* Great, no help from that corner.

* * *

After they'd finished dinner, Lois realized where she'd gone wrong.

Mia had a thing for Bart.

Which meant Chloe had been right.

Damn.

She had just lost 50 bucks.

* * *

"They're ridiculous."

"Yup."

"What was Lois trying to do, anyway?"

Mia sighed. "She was trying to set you up with Kara?"

"What?"He seemed shocked.

"That's why she was being so bitchy. Victor and I weren't supposed to show up. You two were supposed to bond. I don't know what they were thinking . . . that you'd fall in love because of a dinner that wasn't even just the two of you, or in the least bit romantic."

"I'm not interested in a relationship, I told Chloe that. I asked her not to set me up."

"Well it wasn't Chloe. It was Lois. She got you on a technicality." She knew she sounded a bit grumpy, but it didn't bother her.

"Oh well. Kara's cool and all. But even if I were to get involved with someone, it wouldn't be her."

She wasn't jealous. She wasn't jealous. "Who would it be?" She tried to ask as if she didn't care. She was pretty sure she was failing though.

"Oh, um. It's nothing." He seemed rather nervous.

"Oh. Um, I have to go."

"Okay."

Awkward silence.

"I should go."

"Yeah."

She left.

* * *

Bart felt awkward.

He didn't know why though.

He'd mentioned it to Chloe though, and she'd merely smiled and said that he should wait and see.

He still didn't know why though.

He and Mia had always had a really comfortable friendship. It worked for them. They could go out and catch a movie, or hang out and veg. They were really good friends.

Lately, however, that didn't seem to be the case. Ever since the whole dinner Clark and Lois . . . things had been awkward for all of them, including Kara and Victor.

Lois had forced Kara and him out on a date. But it had gone horribly. Not that it really had kind of seemed into it. And Kara was beautiful, and a great girl. But she wasn't for him.

He knew that.

It was weird, because when Mia had asked who who he did have feelings for, he should have said no one. But for some reason, looking into her curious eyes, he hadn't been able to answer.

It was strange. And he didn't quite know what to do about it.

And now, they weren't spending time together. She was _avoiding _him.

And he didn't get it. He had briefly wondered whether she'd assumed that he liked her . . . but he'd suppressed the thought immediately.

Because . . . maybe he did.

* * *

"Mia's avoiding me."

Chloe lifted an eyebrow. "And why would that be?"

"I don't know."

"Okay."

"What do I do?"

"Fix it."

"But I don't know what to do. I don't know how I messed up, 'licious."

"Oh, Bart. I can't tell you if you can't figure it out. Think about it."

"Can you at least give me a hint?"

"Nope. It's only meaningful if you figure it out for yourself."

"I don't . . . know what that means."

"You will," she smiled one of those Chloe-patented secret smiles.

* * *

"Hey! Mia, how's it going?" She'd been avoiding his calls, so he'd shown up at Mia's apartment-she had moved out of Chloe and Oliver's place because of the baby, she claimed the crying distracted her from her studies, but in reality she'd felt like it was time to give the couple their space-when he knew she was there, but when she wasn't expecting him.

"Oh, hey. You know, I have to go somewhere now, can we talk later or something?"

"No. I think we need to talk now. You're avoiding me."

"No . . . I'm not. I've been busy, you know. It happens." She had a guilty look on her face.

"Why are you lying to me, Mia? I thought we were friends?"

"We are friends." She said it sadly, and softly.

"Mia-"

"No, Bart. You're right. We're friends. I'm just . . . in a weird place right now."

"Let me be here for you then."

"I can't." She felt like she was about to cry.

"Oh, Mia."

"Please don't. Just leave."

"No," he tried to move closer to her, but she moved away.

"Please."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you're basically my best friend, and I can't lose you."

"I'm in love with you." It just kind of burst out of her, as if she wouldn't be able to stay quiet for much longer. As if the words had just been waiting to be said.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I-"

"You really don't have to say anything."

"But I can't just leave it like this."

"You really should, you just need to le-"

Bart took a few quick steps to where she was and kissed her. Hard, and possessively. She leaned back into the wall.

Eventually they broke apart.

"I have feelings for you. And I think-I think with very little effort I could fall in love with you. In fact, I may already be in love with you."

"Gosh, Bart. When did you become such a sap?" She grabbed his shirt and pulled him back towards her.

"Possibly when I started to grow up. Maybe you should try it sometime."

"I'll show you grown up," she kissed him.

* * *

"You're a sneaky one."

"Who? Me?" Chloe asked innocently.

"Chloe, you set them up."

"Yes I did, Ollie. And I'm proud of it. And you know what? They can't prove I was behind it."

"But they'll know."

"Eh."

"Who's next anyway?"

"Kara and Victor. I can never tell what either of them are thinking. So it should be interesting."

"Isn't that a Chinese curse? May you lead an interesting life, or something?"

"Oh well," she waved it away. "I don't have time for that. Have you heard about Zatanna and Carter?"

"That they've been spending a curious amount of time together? Yes, I have. And I'm sure you have something to do with it."

"Of course."

"I wouldn't have you any other way. I noticed that Clark's been spending a lot of time out of town." Ah, that's what he really wanted to talk about.

"That's his choice, actually. He and Lois have been arguing about that same thing. Clark just puts the weight of the world on his shoulders, and forgets that the rest of us need him to stop being Superman sometimes."

"Have you mentioned that to him recently?"

"Yes, I have. But I have a feeling things will change soon."

"Why?" he asked, curiously.

"Well . . . she's pregnant."

"Wow."

Chloe suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. "Is something wrong with that?"

"No. I just got a mental image of the Lane-Kent spawn. Scary."

"Ah, yes."

"But you know, I think there's something much better that we could think about." He leaned towards her.

"Really, and what would that be?"

"Us."

"I like this thought process."

"I thought you would," they kissed softly.

Suddenly the baby cried out.

Cock-blocked. By the baby. Again.

It didn't really matter though.

Because everything was perfect and right in their little world. Even if it left them tired and horny.

* * *

Chapter three. . . is complete. MWAHAHAHA. Okay. Crazy laughter aside . . . I finished this chapter only to realize that there was actually very little Chlo-Lo interaction. Sadness. Oh well. Review?


	4. Chapter 4

Busy, and distracted by writing The One-*looks around guiltily*-Sorry. I disclaim.

* * *

Victor was freaked out slightly by all of this matchmaking business.

It felt like people in the league were pairing off left and right.

He wasn't ready for his turn.

He was . . . afraid of falling in love again.

He wasn't proud of it, but he was terrified.

Opening up to that pain, to that rejection? It wasn't worth it.

He'd been slowly falling for someone . . . but the whole Mia/Bart quadrangle had reminded him why he hadn't wanted to get too close. Friends, family . . . both basically the same to him, they were enough.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't get hurt again. Have his heart undergo a stampede . . . love wasn't worth it.

Love wasn't for him.

* * *

She was in love with him. Ridiculously so.

It didn't bother her that he didn't feel the same way.

It didn't bother her that she had to keep her feelings to herself.

It didn't bother her that he would probably never love her.

_Lies_.

It bothered her that he didn't feel the same way.

It bothered her that she was too afraid to tell him how she felt.

It bothered her that he would probably never love her.

Most of all-it bothered her that one day she might have to watch him fall in love with someone else.

Things were complicated though.

Generally, she pretended that absolutely nothing was wrong though. She simply took his friendship. And accepted that that was how it had to be.

* * *

"Chloe, I'm worried about them."

"I'm not. It'll work out."

"It's not going to be easy, they have a lot rooting against them."

"Lois," Chloe sighed. "There are a few different basic types of relationships in the world. There are those like yours and Clark's-where things just fall together because of something almost . . . destined. Then there are those who fall together because of common interests-such as Bart and Mia. Then there are opposites, like AC and Dinah. Then there are relationships like mine and Ollie's-where situations, personalities, and everything just . . . aligns properly. There's a screwed up sort of perfection between Ollie and I-and I think it may be the same with Victor and Kara. They've both been through a lot, maybe they can help each other heal."

As much as Lois understood what Chloe was saying, she still wasn't sure she bought it. "You and Ollie are special-Kara and Victor are just friends, with slightly strange chemistry."

Chloe sighed. "That's how it started for us too, Lois. Things change, people change. They're meant to, or else the world might as well stop revolving on its axis."

"That makes sense in an odd sort of way."

"All the best things do."

* * *

"I feel like something's about to happen."

"Well, it's entirely possible that something is about to happen. You are, after all, playing mini-golf. Maybe you could try swinging the golf club sometime within the next century?" Kara suggested with a smirk.

Victor scowled, and did as she suggested. "That's not what I meant. I meant that something feels rather fishy."

"Maybe you should talk to AC then."

Victor lifted an eyebrow, "All joking aside-" Hint, hint, Kara-"Something doesn't feel right."

"You're probably just picking up on the weird vibes Chloe and Lois have been giving out lately." They'd been even stranger than normal. Even since they'd started this ridiculous matchmaking scheme, they hadn't ambled into such psychotic territory-Kara was quite aware that her train of thought was suggesting that there was some sort of figurative walk that Chloe and Lois had gone on . . . that somehow ended with them in a mentally disturbed park.

She giggled.

Victor looked at her strangely. "Share?" Sure, she was being silly, but he rather liked that side of her. That happy aspect of her personality that some-most-people didn't appreciate. She got him to loosen up, and that made him feel . . . safe. Which was an odd choice of term, but definitely accurate.

She explained her thought process to him. He laughed, of course.

"Only you, Kara."

"It's why you love me."

"I know." He meant in more ways than one.

* * *

"Told you so." Chloe and Lois had hacked into the security cameras, to watch Victor and Kara's hangout. Well, technically, Chloe had hacked, and Lois had just watched. Lois wasn't exactly Miss Technology. Chloe was often actually afraid of letting Lois touch anything more complicated than her computer or her phone.

"I think you might be better at this than I am," Lois said grumpily.

"You're just busy." Chloe said simply.

"You're way busier than I am, and that's just the truth."

"You're pregnant though-it messes up your hormones."

Lois smiled-a silly look that just sort of brightened up her entire presence.

"And that's why they say pregnant women glow." Chloe smiled back at her cousin. "How's Clark taking impending fatherhood anyway?"

Lois glared at Chloe. "He may have taken it better if you hadn't told Oliver before I got a chance to tell him."

Chloe had been with Lois when she'd found out. She had accidentally let slip that Lois and Clark were having a baby-she blamed the lack of sleep, it was twisting her up in messy ways that staying up into the wee hours and subsisting on coffee had never done. Chloe winced, "Sorry. I didn't know that J'onn would read his mind and accidentally tell the rest of the league though, it wasn't my intention."

"I know," Lois sighed. "Makes it tough though. But we're getting through this. And we're both really excited for the baby. Everything's been . . . easier since we found out, and he's spending more time driving me insane, trying to make sure I'm not over-exerting myself."

"I'm glad."

"You're glad he's driving me insane? Nice to know we still have family loyalty, cousin."

"Oh, Lois. You know I love you."

"Ditto, dear cousin, ditto."

* * *

"Victor and Kara are going off together on a mission this weekend. Italy, that's romantic, right? Originally we were going to send Clark with Victor, but then I convinced Ollie that Clark doesn't want to be gone for as long as a week, and Kara has basically the same skills and abilities as Clark. The difference, of course, is that she actually keeps in contact with us while she's on a mission, unlike some people."

"Clark, no matter what happens, always feels like a solo superhero. He isn't, and he's been better lately . . . but he's always felt different from the rest of us." Lois sighed with frustration.

"For Clark, not being human makes him feel as if he doesn't quite belong."

"It never seems to bother Kara."

"It's different when you don't quite belong-yet you're with someone else-it's harder being in a relationship."

"But it's worth it."

"It is."

* * *

Kara couldn't be honest about life with very many people. And although she much appreciated her female friends, most of them seemed to pair off with one another. And most of the men in her life were intimidated by her. Clark wasn't, of course, but he was her cousin. She couldn't-and _eew_, wouldn't-exactly date him.

And that was what she really wanted-someone to date.

She liked her friendship with Victor, because he wasn't intimidated by her. Which meant something. Even though many members of the league had their own special abilities-she was different. And when she was with Victor-well, he was different too.

It was nice and comforting.

She was gifted, but so was he-in a different way, that meant that they didn't have to compete.

But he was just as damaged as she was, which was just . . . _comforting_.

* * *

"Italy?"

"Wow." Victor wasn't sure whether to be excited or suspicious. He was leaning towards the latter, as he should have been.

"I've done some reading, that's supposed to be a beautiful country, right?" Kara asked. She'd considered going off for a little visit, but it had just never quite happened.

"It is." It was also supposed to be one of the most romantic countries. "You promised, Chloe."

Chloe smiled sweetly. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not breaking any promises. Have fun."

It was a set-up. Kara and Victor shared a look. And everyone knew it, but there was no way to stop it.

* * *

"This is sweet." It really was absolutely fantastic. Chloe had-he assumed-not spared any expense when it came to making sure that their trip to Italy was as romantic and conducive to falling in love as it possibly could be.

"Yes, it is very sweet. Not so much that they decided to go with one room, but at least there are two beds."

Victor looked at Kara. Yes, at least there were two beds.

Earlier, on their flight-commercial- because Oliver's jet had been in use-they'd actually had fun with the idea that they were being set-up.

It was interesting, because they were both annoyingly in love with each other and neither one of them would admit it. Yet, they could just pretend it didn't matter. It wasn't easy-but it didn't affect their enjoyment of each other's company.

"Anyway, I think-that since we're not supposed to do any surveillance during the day, we should probably, you know, go sight-seeing."

"Sounds wonderful."

And it really did.

They ate, they took pictures, they acted like complete tourists . . . and they ended up at a fountain.

"Make a wish."

Kara turned to him an quirked her head. "What?"

Victor smiled, "It's a tradition." He handed her a coin, "You make a wish with the coin, as you throw it into the fountain. You're not supposed to tell anyone what the wish is though, until it comes true."

"What a lovely human tradition." She felt the coin in her hand. Hmm.

She might as well try. She flipped it through the air. She closed her eyes.

Victor stared at her-she was so pretty in the sunshine.

He took his own coin and made his own wish.

* * *

That night, when they went out to see what they could find out about this new evil genius dude, they had fun with it. They made it into a game.

Every night before they went out they took bets on which buildings would be a bust, and which ones might have something useful.

At the end of the week, they were about equal. That is, until they finally found what they'd been looking for. Kara quite happily took the crown. "Oh yeah." She did a happy dance. And just because he could, Victor joined in.

On the way home-because of course they had to go home eventually-Victor turned to Kara. "That was fun."

"It really was. Part of my wish came true."

"I'd ask you how exactly, but-"

"-then it wouldn't come true." She completed the sentence for him, she was really getting the hang of this.

"Exactly. And I hope it does."

"I hope yours does too."

* * *

"It didn't work."

"No, it didn't."

"It was your idea Chloe, and it failed."

"Don't be mean Lois. They're just too comfortable with each other-romantic experiences and close quarters don't work on them."

"I think I have a plan."

"A plan that will work?"

"Well, possibly."

* * *

Kara and Victor were . . . soaking wet.

"Are you okay?" It was hard to know what would mess the Cyborg part of him up.

"Fine. Just wet."

They had gotten trapped in the rain. And now they were in Kara's apartment.

"You're welcome to stay until it lets up."

"Thanks."

Kara left the room for a moment.

Victor, realizing this, followed her-"Kara I-"

Oh.

Half-naked Kara.

Right in front of him.

He opened his mouth to say sorry-but then no words came out.

"Oh."

"Sorry."

"Don't be."

She stepped forward, and gently kissed him.

He pulled away.

It was strange, you see.

Simply put, love wasn't for him. But at this point, it didn't matter. Because he wanted it anyway. He surged forward and grabbed her in a hug. His lips met hers, and everything was actually quite . . . lovely.

Perfect.

Sparks, and friendship and love.

And they were everything in a single moment-that felt like it could last forever.

It couldn't, of course.

But now was enough.

Even when it was over, the the feelings weren't.

And they could always go back and do it again.

Such is love.

* * *

"This will work out just fine, all we have to do is . . . Oh, hello." Lois smiled brightly at Kara and Victor-who had just entered the Watchtower, holding hands.

"Apparently there's nothing to do. How are you two?"

"We're fine. When we got back from Italy, we were caught in a freak rainstorm. Or, we would have been here yesterday for debriefing."

Chloe smiled. "Yes, debriefing, how about that."

Somehow, the mission had been a success.

And two wishes-really quite the same in all honesty-had come true.

* * *

I feel ashamed of my horrendous updating. Anyways. The next-and final-chapter is Tess/Bruce.

Yes, I just said that. There will be some sweet Clois and some adorable Chlollie.

And an ending. Yay.


End file.
